The Hunt for the Perfect Christmas Tree
by cheri1
Summary: 10th Doctor. Part of my Something Old, Something New Series. The Doctor, Doc and Alan take Namid with them to Frosteria in search of the perfect Christmas Tree. FINISHED.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story takes place when the triplets are six years old. This story is part of a series called Something Old, Something New. Check my profile page for a list of this series and all my series and the order in which the stories should be read.

Chapter One

The Doctor opened his eyes and let out a little yawn as he woke up. He looked over and smiled at his beloved wife who was still asleep beside him in their bed. He gave her a feather light kiss on the cheek before he quietly got up and began to dress. He was a man on a mission today. It was only three days to Christmas relative time and he was going out today with Alan to get some Christmas trees. He put on his blue pinstriped suit and a burgundy tie and trainers. Then he pulled out his trench coat, slipped it on and with one last loving look at his wife, he walked out the door.

He went down the hallway to check on his children before leaving. Their room was at the end of the hall and he stuck his head inside. Sokanon and Chaska were sound asleep in the bunk bed they shared but Namid was lying in her bed, wide awake, staring up at the ceiling as if deep in thought. The Doctor ached inside, knowing that she couldn't see him and he wished he could do something for her so she could see again. He hesitated a moment and then quietly crept over to her bed. As he bent over to kiss her, Namid suddenly looked his way and a smile spread over her face that melted his hearts into a puddle of goo.

"Daddy?" she whispered.

"No, I'm Maurice," the Doctor whispered back.

She giggled softly at that and put her hand against his cheek.

"You're Daddy," she whispered.

"Okay, it's a fair cop, I'm your daddy alright," he replied before he kissed her cheek. "Why are you awake?"

"I'm just thinkin'."

"'Bout what?" the Doctor whispered.

"'Bout Christmas. It's almost here!"

"I know!" the Doctor said, poking her side. "Are you excited?"

"Yes!" Namid said.

"Me too. Say, you wanna come with me and Uncle Alan and go get a Christmas treeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?"

"Ooo, yes," Namid whispered.

"Then get your butty butt up and get dressed so we can have fun!" the Doctor said.

He kissed her forehead and leaned back up as Namid got up and slid out of bed. As she grabbed her cane, the Doctor left the room so she could get dressed in private. After telling his wife that Namid was coming with them and giving her a good morning kiss, he sauntered down the steps, speaking telepathically with Alan who was dressed and on his way over to his house. As he walked into the kitchen, he noticed Doc was standing by the counter, sipping his morning cup of coffee. Since they defeated the Master and Hoshi and helped him become his old self again, he had been living with them and helping to take care of his newly adopted daughter.

"Morning, Brother," the Doctor said to him as he went to pour a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," Doc said before he took a sip of his drink.

"Sleep well?" the Doctor asked him.

"For the most part. It took awhile but I finally drifted off. You're up early."

"Gonna go get a Christmas Tree. Alan, Namid and me. Wanna come?"

"Um…don't you wanna go by yourselves?"

"Nonsense, Rain is going with her father and the other children to do some Christmas shopping. Rose is doing the same with Chris and Jackie so why not come along with us? Besides, you know that Namid will be begging you to come if she discovers you're up. Come on, you won't be a bother. The more, the merrier."

"Okay, I will," Doc said as the Doctor patted him on the back.

They heard a knock on the door.

"And that'll be Alan," the Doctor said, sitting his mug down on the counter.

He walked into the living room and opened the door. Alan was standing there wearing a festive Santa hat on his head.

"Greetings and salutations and a hap-hap-happy Christmas," he said, beaming from ear to ear. "I am filled with the Christmas spirit this fine morning and am ready and willing to go find us some trees."

"I'm glad to hear that. We have a couple of extra people coming with us this morning, Doc and Namid."

"Brilliant, more to share the merriness," Alan said, strolling inside. "Where is the Docster then?"

"Here," Doc said, stepping out of the kitchen.

Alan walked over to him and hugged him tightly.

"Happy Christmas and a wonderfully pleasant day," he said.

"And the same to you," Doc said, smiling.

"And where is my beloved niece so I can give her Christmas kisses and good wishes," Alan said to the Doctor as he came into the room.

"She is upstairs getting dressed and will be down shortly," the Doctor replied.

"I can't wait that long. I gotta go give her a Christmas kiss now!" Alan said, rushing out of the room.

The Doctor chuckled at that and then set his mug down.

"Come with me, I need your help preparing the sled," he said to Doc.

"Sled?"

"Yes, we're going to a little planet I know of and chopping down our own trees and in order to do that, I need my special sled and team of robotic husky dogs so we can glide across the snow and ice. Follow me."

Doc set his mug down on the counter and followed him as he went to the garage.

* * *

After Alan came downstairs with Namid, they all got into the TARDIS and headed into the vortex. Sitting in the console room was a long, twenty foot wooden dog sled. The front part was flat so they could transport stuff on it and the back part where the riders stood was about five feet long with wooden sides that came up to protect them. In the front five robotic huskies, black and grey in color, were lying quietly awaiting their master's command. The Doctor had put an old heavy blanket on the sled along with three large coils of rope, a whip and three axes. He was going to Frosteria, a planet in the Andromeda galaxy that had a climate and terrain similar to Earth. He had chosen a certain spot he knew of that had lush evergreen forests and he made sure to go in the middle of winter so it would be more Christmassy. While he flew the TARDIS, Alan sat beside Namid on the jump seat while Doc inspected the sled.

"This is ingenious. I love the robot dogs. I assume the TARDIS created it for you."

"Yup," the Doctor said. "We could go to a tree lot or a shop to get one but where's the fun in that? Besides, it'll give us an excuse to visit another planet and be manly men and chop down trees!"

"You're gonna get huuuurt!"

"Be quiet, Rainbow, we are not!" the Doctor said as Namid giggled. "We are manly men; we don't get hurt chopping down trees!"

"Yeah, right," Namid said.

"What?" the Doctor said in a shrill voice as Namid giggled, "what was that? Did you just question my virility, young lady? Are you implying I can't chop down a tree? Are you questioning my manhood?"

"Yes," Namid said, trying to curl up into a ball when she felt the Doctor near her.

She giggled when the Doctor breathed hard on her head and snorted like an enraged bull. Then with a grin, he picked her up and held her near.

"You, my dear, need to get into a special snow suit so you don't freeze your little tootsie wootsies off," he said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "So, while the TARDIS is flying to frosty Frosteria, you will be suiting up so you can ride on the sled and have some fun."

He took Namid out of the console room and carried her to the wardrobe room while he warbled Christmas carols in her ear. He walked up the circular staircase till he got to the women's level and smiled when he found the TARDIS had already designed and laid out a thermal, insulated snow suit for her. He sat Namid down and helped her get into the bright red snow suit. After she was in it, he zipped it up and pulled the fur lined hood up over her head. Then he reached into a box and pulled out some heavy thermal gloves that he put on her hands. Then he picked her up again and headed back down to his lab.

"I have a special gel I'm going to put on your face, Rainbow, that'll protect you from the cold winds," he said as they walked along, "so we're heading to my lab."

"What about you, Daddy?"

"Aw, I'm alright, Rainbow. Me and your other daddy and uncle can withstand the cold. You can't do that yet which is why you need to be suited up like a spaceman going for a moonwalk."

His hearts warmed when she giggled at that and he gave her back a quick rub as he filled her mind with love. They walked into his lab and he looked through the drawers before he found a little white plastic jar.

"Ah, here we are," he said, unscrewing the lid from it and kneeling down next to her. "We'll put this on your face and I'll take it along with me just in case we need to reapply it."

He put a bit of the clear gel on his finger and carefully applied it to the exposed parts of her face while Namid stood and waited patiently for him to finish. When he was done, he put the lid back on, put the jar in his pocket and wiped the remainder off on his face before he picked Namid up again.

"Ready, Rainbow?"

"Ready, Daddy."

He held her close.

"You're so brave," he said as they headed out of the room, "you're my brave little girl and I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy," she said, tightening her hold on him.

The Doctor, his hearts light, warbled Jingle Bells to his daughter as they walked back to the console room.

"Here she is, our little snow bunny is ready for play," he said to his brothers as he walked back into the room.

"Aw, isn't she cuuuuuute?" Alan said, coming around the back of him to look at her. "We must get a camera and take two trillion photos of her so we can annoy and nauseate our friends when we keep taking them out and shoving them in their faces while we gush about how cute she is."

"Or we can just enjoy her and not take photos," the Doctor said.

"Or we can just enjoy her and not take photos," Alan repeated while the Doctor snickered.

He set Namid down and she felt around for Doc. Once she found him, she tugged on his suit and embraced him when he leaned down. Doc happily scooped her up and held her to him as she held him tightly.

Once the TARDIS had landed and powered down. The Doctor gave the signal to the dogs and they immediately came to life, panting and barking as Alan opened the front door. Doc carried her while the Doctor commanded the dogs to pull the sled outside. Alan stepped aside as the dogs barked and did as their master commanded. They pulled the sled all the way out and Doc stepped out with Namid as the Doctor closed the doors.

"I'm gonna use the duvet and put Namid on the sled with her back against the partition," the Doctor said as they walked over.

Alan moved the axes up and the Doctor took the whip off and put it on the other side as Doc put Namid down and spread out the duvet. Namid sat down on it and the three brothers wrapped her up so only the head was sticking out. Then the Doctor reached into his pocket once Namid's back was up against the partition and put a small white box on her chest. He turned it on and a forcefield band encircled her chest, keeping her in place.

"Are you okay?" he asked Namid.

"Yup."

"Nice and warm?"

"Yup."

"Okey-dokey then," the Doctor said as he walked around the partition and got in with his brothers. "Let's get this show on the road then.

They held on to the sides and front of the partition as the Doctor raised the whip and cracked it over the dogs heads.

"Mush!" he shouted as the dogs pulled the sled through the snow away from the TARDIS.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Mush!" the Doctor said as he enthusiastically cracked the whip up over the dog's heads. "Mush, I say!"

"I say bacon and eggs because I hate mush," Alan said.

The Doctor considered that for a few seconds and cracked the whip again.

"Bacon and eggs!" he yelled as everyone laughed. "Bacon and eggs, I say!"

"Cheerios!" Namid yelled out.

"Cheerios!" the Doctor yelled as he cracked the whip. "Cheerios, you doggies!"

They were swooshing through the snow heading for a forest of pine trees. The trees were scattered enough that the Doctor could maneuver the sled in between them. He ordered his robotic dog sled team to slow down and the three brothers scanned the trees as they went by them.

"Any particular sort of tree you had in mind?" Doc asked him.

"Something full, 'bout a six, seven footer, in that range," the Doctor said to him.

"Keep your eyes peeled for a four hundred foot tall one that is so full it'll press my wife up against the wall and make breathing difficult," Alan whispered to him. "I wanna have some fun trying to find her before her respiratory bypass system gives out completely."

"Uh-huh, if you say so, Alan," Doc said while the Doctor chuckled.

The Doctor looked down at his daughter.

"How 'bout you? You alright, Rainbow?"

"Yeah, this is fun!" she said. "And I'm not cold cause you put that snowsuit on me and that stuff on my face so I'm having fun!"

"Well, good, with any luck, your old man will be finding you a tree shortly."

"Good cause I want a big tree that's lovely," Namid said, glancing up at him. "I want lots of decorations on it and I want lots of presents under it cause that's the way it should be."

Alan let out a sigh.

"Aw, listen to the child burble away about Christmas. That's such an interesting adjective. Burble. Makes me think of bubbling, burbling brooks just splashing away in the warm summer breeze. I remember one time when the Doctor was a wee lad running by a burbling brook while a Moosel chased him. Yup, those were the days."

"What's a Moosel?" Namid yelled.

Alan grinned as he projected an image into everyone's mind of the Doctor with big moose antlers growing out of the sides of his head. Next to it in crudely written letters was MOOSEL with an arrow pointing to the Doctor.

"Don't believe that for one second, Namid," the Doctor said while she giggled.

He spied a tree he liked several feet in front of them and stopped the sled.

"I believe this one is a good candidate for chopping," the Doctor said as he stepped off the sled and waded through the half foot snow towards it.

Alan got off and followed him, picking up two of the axes as he passed by them.

"Ooooh, I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay, I sleep all night and I work all day," he sang as he walked over to the tree the Doctor was currently examining. "I cut down trees; I wear high heels, suspenders and a bra. I wish I'd been a girlie just like my dear papa!"

While they were doing that, Doc leaned down to Namid.

"Hey, Ya'nala, wanna help me build a snowman while they chop down the Christmas trees?"

"Okay!" Namid said happily.

He pushed the button on the box and deactivated the force field. He put it in his pocket as he helped her stand up. While they walked away from the sled, the Doctor and Alan were on their knees looking underneath a lush evergreen tree at the tree trunk.

"Looks okay. Looks like a healthy tree to me," the Doctor said as they got up and dusted the snow off their trousers.

Alan looked over and saw Doc helping Namid to roll a large snowball.

"Hey, no fair, I wanna help make a snowman too," Alan pouted.

"Stand back, Brother, I'm gonna chop this one down!" the Doctor said to Alan.

"Can I pretend to be David Attenborough while you're doing it?" Alan said.

"Okay," the Doctor said, stepping back for a moment so he could listen to his brother.

Alan cleared his throat and began speaking in David Attenborough's distinctive nasally voice.

"The Doctor…a man braving the elements in search of the perfect Christmas tree," Alan said while the Doctor laughed. "The classic story of man against nature as one man braves the wintery cold to nab himself a perfect tree for his family. The Doctor, his muscles rippling under his blue pinstriped suit, steps back to size up his prey before delivering the fatal death stroke. Will he succeed? Let's watch."

The Doctor planted his feet in the snow while Alan stood behind him and watched. He raised his axe.

"Fore!" Alan yelled.

He grinned when the Doctor looked at him.

"Sorry, wrong activity," he said with a wink.

The Doctor paused a moment, tensing his body and then let the axe fly. Alan looked at Namid when she let out a startled gasp the moment she heard the loud thud made when the axe connected with the trunk.

"Whoops, sorry, Namid," the Doctor yelled to her. "I didn't mean to scare ya. I'm gonna chop again, yeah?"

"Okay, Daddy," she said, waving as she helped Doc put the second snowball up on top of the first.

Alan sauntered over and helped them while the Doctor let the axe fly again. A second chop and he stepped back as the tree fell over into the snow.

"Did you chop the tree down, Daddy?"

"I surely did!" the Doctor said.

Namid giggled when in her mind's eye, the Doctor danced around and showed off his Arnold Schwarzenegger body to her while he twirled his axe. Alan suddenly projected himself into her mind, walked over to his dancing brother, pulled out a tiny pin and with a loud pop, popped the muscles and watched them deflated with a high-pitched hiss.

"Oi!" the Doctor said to Alan as Namid giggled. "I'd like to see you do the same thing then if you think I'm such a wimp!"

"I never said you were a wimp. I'm just shattering your obvious delusions of grandeur that you have about the size of your body," Alan said. "But if you want to see me in action, step aside and I'll show you what a clone is made of!"

"Oh, this oughta be good," Doc said as he stopped making the snowman for a moment and watched Alan who was whistling cheerfully as he slung his axe over his shoulder and walked among the trees.

While he was doing that, Doc walked over to the Doctor and helped him carry his chopped tree over to the sled and helped him set it on it so it wouldn't slide off. When he finished that, he walked back to Namid who was making another snowball. The Doctor wiped the dirt and pieces of bark and needles off his hands and folded them across his chest while he watched Alan shaking a tree about twenty feet away from him. He looked it over, walking around the tree and looking at the trunk before he nodded to himself.

"I CLAIM THIS TREE IN THE NAME OF SPAIN!" he bellowed as he raised his axe. "Death to you, Lumber being!!!"

He swung the axe and they heard a loud thud. Alan pulled the axe back and his mouth dropped open.

"It didn't fall on the first chop?" he said in disbelief while the Doctor sniggered. "No, that can't be right, I'm stronger than that. I should have swung the axe with enough force to make the tree dance and spin on its severed trunk before it fell. Ah well, everyone's entitled to an off day, I s'pose. Die, Tree, die!"

He swung again and got out of the way when the tree fell over and hit the ground with a thud.

"Well, I didn't fell it in one fell swoop but I matched you stroke for stroke, Brother," he said smugly. "I have proved I am just as manly a man as you are."

"Well, duh, you're his clone," Doc said as the Doctor laughed.

"I'm what?" Alan said, resting the handle of the axe against his leg and putting his hands on his hips.

"His clone. No matter how much you try to deny that, it's the truth. You're a clone which means you are like him in every way…correction, you're like him in every way except for the fact that you seemed to have gone off your trolley when Donna touched you and help make your brain but otherwise, you have the same strength as him which means you're gonna chop the tree down exactly like him."

"And I s'pose you can do better?" Alan challenged.

"No, probably not since I'm his counterpart," Doc said.

He raised his eyebrow when Alan made clucking sounds. He looked at Namid who had finished rolling the snowball for the head.

"He's calling me a chicken, Ya'nala, d'ya believe that?"

"You're not a chicken, Dada, you're very brave," Namid said as he took the head and set it on top of the body.

"Besides," Doc said to Alan as he and Namid blended the bottom of the snowball head into the top of the chest snowball, "I can't prove it to you even if I wanted to. I live with the Doctor and he already has a tree. We don't need two."

"Then just cut one down to demonstrate," Alan said.

"Isn't that wasteful? I'm killing a tree just to prove to you that I can chop one down?"

"We can use the lumber for firewood," Alan said. "Come on, show us your strength!"

Doc sighed.

"I'll be right back and help you finish this, Ya'nala," he said to Namid. "I gotta go make Alan happy so he'll stop badgering me about my lumberjack skills."

"Go get em, Dada!" Namid said.

Doc smiled and kissed her cheek before he walked over to the sled, picked up the remaining ax and headed for a tree about ten feet away. He found one with a very skinny tree trunk and grinned as he sat his axe down, spit on his hands and grabbed the handle. He smiled at Namid when he noticed she had stopped and was listening to what was happening while the Doctor and Alan stood by the sled watching. He planted his feet, tensed his muscles and with a yell swung the axe up and hit the thin trunk as hard as he could, chopping it in two on the first blow. He stepped back and gave them a smug look as the tree fell.

"Yeah and it had a thin trunk too," Alan said as the Doctor laughed and Namid clapped and cheered.

"You didn't say I couldn't choose one with a thinner trunk, Alan. You just said chop one down and I did that. Now if you're through egging me on, I'm going to help my daughter finish her snowman."

He laid the ax back on the sled and walked back over to Namid.

"He's right, you know, you didn't say he couldn't chop down a skinner tree," the Doctor said, shrugging.

"Yeah, well, in future I'll be more specific then," Alan replied.

The Doctor used the sled to carry his tree back to the TARDIS while Alan helped with the snowman. When he returned with the empty sled, the three men helped him get Alan's tree on it and he again took off. Then he returned one more time, put the skinny tree on it by himself and brought over some coal and a carrot that the TARDIS had provided for him. They arranged the pieces of coal to make the eyes, mouth and buttons down the front and then used the carrot for a nose. They stepped back and the Doctor showed Namid what it looked like.

"Ooo, it's pretty, Daddy."

"Yes, it is, Rainbow."

He got Namid, Alan and Doc to stand around it and reached deep into his pocket for his digital camera. He and Alan took turns taking pictures of everyone standing by it for the rest of the family and then they bundled Namid up on the sled, secured her with the forcefield, put the axes on the front and climbed on.

"We didn't need the rope after all," the Doctor said as he cracked the whip and the sled turned around. "We have three very sturdy trees, perfect for Christmas time."

They loudly sang Christmas Carols with Namid as the sled swooshed back towards the TARDIS.

_______________

"Ooo, I like it!" Rain said when she came through the door with Sokanon and Chaska and saw the tree standing up in the corner of the living room, unadorned and ready for decorating. "It looks gorgeous, Dear. It'll be perfect for Christmas."

"Can we decorate it, Daddy?" Sokanon asked.

"Later on after supper," the Doctor said. "Alan and Rose are coming over with Christopher and they're going to help and tomorrow we'll go over and help with theirs."

Sokanon and Chaska jumped for joy at that and hurried up to their room with their sacks filled with presents. The Doctor came over to Rain who was bringing in five large sacks of her own. He put his arms around her and gave her a kiss.

"Any presents for me?" he asked her.

"Yes, but you're not getting a peek at em."

He frowned and held her tighter.

"Please?" he whispered as she giggled.

"No, gotta wait with everyone else for Christmas."

"Not even a little peek?" he whispered in her ear.

"And you accuse the kids of being too nosy when it comes to their gifts," Rain said amused. "I think you're the biggest kid of all in this house. And yes, in this house, I know Alan's a bigger kid than you by far."

"I just wanna know if what you got me will be satisfactory," he said.

"Yeah, right, you just wanna know ahead of time," she said as he chuckled.

"That too," he replied before he kissed her cheek. "Besides I don't need a lot of fancy gifts, not when I have you and my family to keep me happy and amused all year long."

"Good answer," Rain said before kissing him on the lips.

The Doctor looked down when Namid poked him on the leg.

"I know what you're geeetting," she said in a sing-song voice.

"WHAT? WHAT IS IT? TELL ME!" he said as Namid sprinted away and Rain laughed hysterically. "Come back here, Rainbow, and tell me what I'm getting. I'll buy you a pony! I'll buy you an elephant! I'll buy you the Taj Mahal, just tell me! Please, please, please, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeas-ah!"

Rain chuckled at that. Smiling while she listened to her daughter teasing her husband about knowing what he was getting while he begged for knowledge, she shut the door, grabbed her sacks and quickly headed up to their bedroom.

THE END.


End file.
